Is Iraq correctly pronounced : “E-raq” or “Eye-raq”? Thank you.
The Iraqis(sp?) I’ve heard speaking English on the radio have all pronounced it Ih-Rak.
All the (American) mainstream newscasters I’ve heard have pronounced it “Ih-rak”, too, so I would guess that’s the proper pronunciation.
It rhymes with “Jacques” which rhymes with “Chirac.” They’re all in rhythm.
In Arabic:
al-'Iraq. It contains the 'ayn sound.
Best approx in English, E Raq (or Ih Raq).
Eye Raq sounds rather Bush like.
Since the OP has been answered, shameless hijack: is there any truth to the rumour that “Saddam”, as (mis-)pronounced by Bush Snr, sounds like something to do with “beggar” in Arabic?
DarrenS, if you’re talking about stressing the first syllable, I’ve been thinking that it sounds a lot (maybe intentionally?) like Sodom, of Sodom and Gomorrah fame.
I read about that “ayn” sound (which does not exist in English) … what is it? One author described it as sounding “like someone being strangled.”
I saw on the wires today that Saddam has become a very popular name for newborns in Bangladesh.
Fine, as long as they don’t then migrate to the West. They’ll go through hell at school and in the jobmarket.